Kai-Hoop-Born

In Sree Racha, Chonburi. After the factory visit; we invited our clients for lunch. The area is very very very famous for one restaurant. I really mean only 'one' restaurant. There is nothing around for miles & miles. However; it seems like everyone knows this particular restaurant. This restaurant is so famous because all it serves is ...chicken!


That's right...everything is chicken! You will soon see the photos. The decor is very 70's, heavy wood chairs & tables. Nothing very exciting in terms of decor because as usual, the food is the main attraction.


The sign that says...this is the most famous place for chicken!


The first dish was roasted chicken. The chicken was very tender, moist and tasted very yummy.


The second dish was chicken with sweet Thai basil. This is one of my favourite dishes but here they prepared it a bit differently than usual. Instead of mincing the chicken, the chicken came in big chunks. But that did not change the fact that this dish was so so good.


The next dish was stir fried vegetables with chicken. Nothing very special about this dish; but the vegetables were cooked nicely and they were very fresh.


The famous green & spicy sauce to dip the chicken. Amazingly tasty and spicy. My scalp was itching after every time I ate the chicken that was dipped into the sauce.


The next dish was deep fried chicken. The chicken was fried to a deep brown, it was very crispy but the inside was moist & tender. I do love fried foods and this was satisfying.


The next dish was chicken tom yum. The soup was hearty with so much chicken, mushrooms, bamboo, lemon grass, etc. The combination of sour, sweet, tangy and spicy was really great. The soup had loads of textures, colours and tastes. Simply wonderful.


The next dish was omelette. Another favourite comfort dish of mine. So so simple but yet so satisfying. The omelette was deep fried to a golden brown, slighty firm on the outside but so soft and tender on the inside.


The next dish was som tum (the only dish without chicken). We wanted som tum to go with the fried chicken. The som tum was a lovely blend of sour, sweet, tangy & spicy. As any som tum; tons of textures, colours and tastes. I can eat this everyday.


Even the restaurant has its own labeled chicken water.


The chillies that the staff cuts to make the famous sauce...ouch, those little green things looked spicy.


The candied pineapple for dessert.


Who could miss the entrance to this very famous restaurant?


The giant chicken mascot watching over the restaurant.


The chicken Starbucks. We all ordered iced coffee to take with us in the van for the trip back to Bangkok.

Overall; a really great place to have lunch. Its so unusual, easy going and the food is great. The staff was very friendly and the total bill for lunch for ten people (we ordered twice each dish) was ridiculously cheap. If you are ever Sree Racha, do try this place out...well actually, you might not have a choice since there is nothing else.

Moo Ban Hoop Born, Kao Kan Throng , Sree Racha, Chonburi
Contact Number : (038) 338-542, 08-1344-6288 และ 08-7235-9745
Opening Hour: 06.00-18.00 pm

Youyen (Hua Hin)

We met our other colleagues at the hotel to freshen up. It was dinner time and there was a dinner planned for us at one of the most popular and famous seafood restaurants in Hua Hin.


The restaurant is called Youyen.


The path way leading to the restaurant & sea.


The beach house that is actually the dessert area.


The restaurant next to the beach.


Some of the tables near the beach.


The first dish was Khao Pad Pu. The fried rice was cooked nicely; however I felt it was a bit too oily and a bit stingy on the crab meat. I have had better and I have worse.


The second dish was Steamed Egg Custard with Shrimp. The custards were interesting since I do not find these often in restaurants. The texture was soft & velvety. However; alone, the custards were very bland. I needed to add chili sauce to add flavour to the dish. They could have added herbs or spices to the custard.


The next dish was Massaman Nua Curry. The peanuts, potatoes & beef were tender. The massaman was rich, thick and had a very nice taste; but I felt the massaman was on the sweet side (which is not a good thing).


The next dish was Yum Woon Sen Talay. This dish had fresh seafood (very little of it); but the colurs, textures and flavour was very nice. A good combination of sour, sweet, tangy and spicy.


The next dish was Namprik Pu. I was a disappointed with this namprik. I should have not compared this crab namprik to my favourite one (a restaurant on the expressway heading to Hua Hin). This namprik could not compare at all; it was too watery and the crab was somehow missing.


The next dish was Pu Nim Tod. The soft crab was deep fried to a dark golden brown. The crab was slightly crispy and soft & tender inside. A nicely prepared dish.


The next dish was Pla Tod Nam-pla. I do love this dish and at Youyen, they did not disappoint because the fish was very fresh & deep fried to a light golden brown. The fish was moist & tender inside. The fish sauce flavour was apparent but not overwhelming (which is a good thing). Very nice!


The next dish was Yum Goong. The shrimps were fresh, plumb & firm. The flavours of garlic, lemon grass, chilies, mint, lime & fish sauce were fantastic.


The next dish was Steamed Prawns. The prawns were fresh, large, firm and juicy. A simple dish but always so so good.


The next dish was Tom Yum Pla. The tom yum had a good combination of sour, tangy, sweet and spicy taste. But what was nice of this tom yum was that it had a long finish of the sour & tangy taste. Very yummy.


The dessert was Sala loi kaew. This fruit is simply amazing; it is tart, sweet & sour all at the same time. A really refreshing way to end a meal.

Overall; the seafood was very fresh, cooked nicely and tasted pretty good. There were some misses but due to the lovely atmosphere of eating at a seaside restaurant; all those misses did not at all ruin my dinner.

Address: Naeb Khehars Road in front of Hua Hin soi 51
Tel.: 032-531-191 To 2.
Open daily 10:00 - 22:00
www.youyen.com

'In the Mood for Love'

A foodie friend of ours wanted to try a new funky sushi bar in town. We are always game to try something new; so we decided to meet at 'In the Mood for Love'. A very unusual name for a sushi bar but at the same time very cool.


If you want something sexy, cool & exciting when it comes to sushi, this was the perfect setting for it. Soft blue lighting dominated the ceiling above the room, dark glassed walls and wicker lamps hanging above the sushi counter - the mood lighting recreated the setting of the 2000 film by Wong Kar-Wai which brought us back to Hong Kong in the 60s. So; I was definately wrong to expect something Japanese with a name like In the Mood for Love.

On top of all that; the menu had the most unusual, wacky & fun named sushi. Of course it took us a while to order because we had no idea what were ordering. We had to read each ingredient carefully to make sure what we were going to eat.


The amuse bouche was Elixir Oyster Shooter (260). This consisted of a fresh oyster with quail egg in sake with elixir juice. It was unique indeed; hard to describe since there is nothing else like it. But, the contrasting textures of the oyster & quail egg was a clever idea and at the same time the combination of sake & elixir tasted good.


The first roll was Green satin. Consisted of karikama, daikon, horenzo, avo, kaware and crab mixed and wrapped with cucumber. Even though there were a lot of ingredients to comprise this roll, I was not totally impressed with it. The roll was crafted nicely but I felt it was too bland.


The next roll was Sweet 16 (400 baht). This is one of the restaurant's signature roll. The roll consisted of eel, spicy tuna, avocado and topped with strawberries and shrimp roe. At first; I thought this was too weird and when I bit into the roll, I still thought it was too weird. The taste & sweetness of the strawberry was a good contrast of the savoury flavours in the roll. But I think I am a traditionalist when it comes to my sushi rolls.


The next roll was Guilty But Happy (360 baht) Shrimp tempura, ebiko, cream cheese, scallion, mayo and red sauce drizzle with wasabi mayo and nitsume sauce. The contrasting textures was nice in this roll as well as the tastes of the ingredients.


The next roll was Hole in the Wall (320 baht). The roll consisted of seared hotate, jalepeno, tobiko, & cucumbers skewed with avocados. The flavours of the roll were nicely balanced and I could tell from the textures & flavours what I was eating (which is a good thing).


The next roll was Rainbow roll (390 baht). Everything in the sushi bar was put into this sushi. That explains the explosion of colours & textures from this roll. The ingredients were fresh and the roll was good (not the best in town but non-the-less, pretty good).


The next dish was Hirame ponzu (560 baht). Thinly sliced hirame with lemon and ponzu sauce. The hirame was sliced to paper thin perfection. The lemon & ponzu sauce added the necessary acidity and saltiness to the sweet fish. A simple but very nice dish.


The last dish was Aikamo Toban (260 baht). Pan fried duck breast with bunno sauce. The duck was of good quality. The bunno sauce was not sweet (which was a good thing). However; the duck was a bit over cooked making it chewy.


The first dessert was Green tea ice cream (120 baht). The ice cream was smooth, creamy and rich in green tea flavour. Nothing to complain about with this dessert.

Overall; a very hip & cool place to hang out due to the ambiance, decor & vibe. Unique for Bangkok but in a very good way. The service however was unattentive because the restaurant was full; but I would not use that as an excuse. The management has to teach their staff to be more concerned with the customers needs. There were staff who were just standing around but on the other side of the restaurant the whole evening. I had to wave to get their attention all the time to either ask for the menu, pour our sake or to clean our table since new dishes were arriving, etc.. This was not good.

As for the food; it was good but not outstanding. The sushi was imaginative and was aesthetically very nice. But since they combined so many ingredients into their sushi, they could pay more attention to detail when it comes to making the sushi. The ingredients that go into the sushi should not only be the freshest & best quality but also have the right colours, textures & consistency since that is the very first thing we will notice & taste. The food had a few hits but also a few misses. At these prices; I would rather they have more hits.

Honestly; I will probably forget about this restaurant unless someone brings it up. But, then again, who cares if I don't go to this restaurant. I am sure that 'In the Mood for Love' has a very strong following.

9/9 Sukhumvit soi 36
Bangkok, 10110
Tel.: 02-661-5076
BTS: Thonglor

Nong Mon Market

The most famous food market: Nong Mon Market; where you can practically buy anything your heart desires to eat.

This market is located on Sukhumvit Road along the way to Bang Saen. Nong Mon Market offers a vast variety of locally produced seafood products such as fish, squid, and shrimp, both fresh and preserved. In addition, sweets and other local sweetmeats are also popular.


The most awesome deep fried crab rolls. We had to wait for 15 minutes to actually order some because there was a long queue of people. We had to start giving the 'evil eye' to some customers who arrived and tried to cut the queue. Apparently; my 'evil eye' worked because they waited their turn. The crab rolls were deep fried to a dark golden brown. They were a solid mass of crab which tasted so good. We ate the whole box of a dozen in the car.


Fresh coconut juice...always so refreshing and tasty. To refresh ourselves from the drive to Sattahip; coconut juice is always the perfect answer instead of Coca cola. It is just so pure & tasty. And of course cost nothing.


A huge pot of freshly steamed Hor mok (steamed fish mousse in banana leaf). I did not want to buy any because we were on our way to have lunch. But; oh boy was I tempted.


Tons & tons & tons of dried squid and shrimp (and other strange dried stuff). We could smell these items already a few meters away. A pungent smell of sea critters. Just lovely.


The most amazing cakes..fresh out of the oven...I am not joking. The ovens are in front view and we witnessed all the yummy cakes being taken out of the oven. The only problem with these very popular cakes is that there were a dozen types to choose from. Making my life more difficult! There are cakes filled with coconut, cashew, taro, custard, etc. and as well as plain. Which one, which one??? I chose the one with coconut and one with cashew.


I bought a few of these...Khao larm (sticky rice in bamboo), I bought two purple rice & two white rice. I can never resist. Another hap hazard in my life. I love these hollow bamboos stuffed with sticky rice & coconut cream. Damn they are so good.


We arrived at our destination. We were taken to this restaurant by a foodie friend many years ago. I was surprised that we found it again. The place is open air and very simply decorated.


The first dish was Squid in lemon sauce. The squid were so fresh, plumb and firm. Because the squid was sauteing in the most delicious lemon soup; the squid was tender & juicy. The perfect combination of tangy, salty, spicy and sweet made this dish so so awesome.


The next dish was Wing bean salad. The wing beans were accompanied with dried fish and cashews. The salad had so much texture and tasted so so good.


The next dish was Crab fried rice. I looovvveee fried rice even though I know it has to be one of the most unhealthy dishes on earth for me. However; the crab fried rice was absolutely devine. First of all it was not oily; which is a huge plus for me. There was an abundance of crab which is another huge plus. The rice also had egg, tomato and some greens. With a dash of fish sauce & chili; this dish was perfect.


The next dish was Fried fish with fish sauce. Boy do I love fried fish with fish sauce and this dish did not disappoint. The fish was deep fried perfectly; the outside was crispy and the inside was tender & moist. The fish sauce added the wonderful flavour to the dish. Heavenly.


The lovely garden sitting area of the restaurant.

Overall; a great stop for seafood whenever you are in the Chonburi area. Everything was simple and good; that includes the service, the atmosphere and definately the food. I still do not know how restaurants do it in Thailand. Our whole meal only cost 600 baht; and we got the freshest of seafood that was cooked perfectly and tasted wonderful. No matter how they do it; I hope they keep doing it forever.